Earthfall 2: The Mission Continues by Knight Stephen

Author:Knight, Stephen [Knight, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | Dystopian
Amazon: B07PD1S7C9
Goodreads: 44278945
Published: 2019-03-03T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Leona returned to the bar almost two hours later. She carried printouts and walked Andrews, Mulligan, Buchek, Griffith, and the others through the quick intel slice KC had captured with the drone. That the other party out in the darkness was using an SCEV was now without question; while no transponder data had been detected, the information harvested from the VCARS in conjunction with the millimeter wave radar pulse and the fragmentary communications filled in the blanks.

“So they’re using TAC seven,” Andrews said.

“That’s one of your frequency designations?” Griffith asked.

“Yes. It’s not a cardinal freq though, usually reserved for overload commo in the event there’s a ton of chatter going on in the field.” Andrews looked at Leona. “You able to decode it?”

Leona nodded. “They’re smart, using a deep freq, but there are only so many ways to encrypt it, and we can listen in on them when they’re transmitting.”

“You were able to hear them?” Buchek asked.

“Only a fragment,” Leona said. She reached into one of the cargo pockets on her trousers and pulled out her tablet. She looked at Andrews. “I’ll share the audio?”

“Go for it. Let’s hear what they had to say.”

Leona unlocked the tablet and deployed its kickstand. She positioned it in the center of the table, then tapped a button on its display. An audio spectrum display pulsed as a static-filled voice spoke over the tablet’s embedded speakers.

“—zero contacts on the ground. Orient left to two-six-two—”

The audio meters flatlined after that. Buchek and Griffith looked around the room at the other people hovering around the table.

“Uh, is that it?” Buchek asked.

“The drone was caught in a radar sweep,” Leona said. “Our crew chief had to drop it back to five hundred feet above ground level to avoid it being detected. That’s all we were able to recover from the intercept.”

“How long was the drone strobed for?” Mulligan asked.

“Less than five seconds. Just a hair over three, actually.”

Mulligan pushed away from the table and got to his feet. “Okay, that’s enough to get a read-back on the vehicle. If they saw the rotor flutter, they’ll know what’s up. Captain, I’m headed outside. I want to walk the perimeter and take a look around.”

“We’re not done here, Scott,” Leona said.

“You have more bad news?” Mulligan asked. “Because if you don’t, then I want to get out there and see what I can see. These guys aren’t far enough away for us to sleep tight.”

“Sarmajor, take these two men with you.” Griffith pointed at an older man with a deeply lined face and eyes so dark they appeared to be almost black, and a younger guy who wasn’t much more than a teenager. He had a wicked scar on his forehead and hair that was dark and of the consistency of a Brillo pad. “They know the lay of the land and can guide you through the entire settlement in complete darkness.”

Mulligan reached down and opened his rucksack. “Not really worried about that.” He pulled out a hard case and opened it.

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